Racial Equity Statement

Challenge Day Friends,

The last month has been grueling for many of us. We sympathize in the collective grief over the tragic death of George Floyd as well as the recent deaths of Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor, and sadly so many others. Our thoughts remain with these families and now the deeply impacted community of Minneapolis.

If you really knew me… you should know that my own grief makes me want to reach out to all of you in our community who knows and loves children – particularly children of color. I hurt for my own children. I hurt for all our children.

While we all must grieve, we understand that in the hearts of our fellow citizens of color, incidents like these connect to a long history of unequal justice in our country.

At Challenge Day, we envision a world where every child feels safe, loved and celebrated. We commit ourselves to the celebration of humanity and deep rooted in our work is compassion; compassion for ourselves, compassion for our neighbors, and compassion for the world. We take pride in focusing our efforts to the work of healing; broadening awareness and building unity, rather than furthering the divide. We will get up and continue to work until injustice is rooted out, until communities are transformed, until the world sees all children the way we do; Equal. Powerful. Unstoppable.

In that spirit, today we join the broader coalition to a call to action. For many of you it may feel prudent to use this time to go on a personal journey to educate yourself. If this is you, please see our resources below. For others such as Challenge Day, we utilize this time to provide intentional programming, build stronger coalitions, and endeavor always ways to lift up those least likely to be lifted up.

In Solidarity and Community,

Laura Chavez

Executive Director